Making it a December to remember - a gift of seasonings in tune to the season with a recipe for herbed salts
I'm not a sweets person, despite what this blog might have led you to believe. My weakness, my delight, my love is for savoury dishes. And bread, but that has been amply discussed here, and I shan't bore you with yet another ode to bread, not this time - doesn't mean I'm not planning a bread post for the after Christmas, already! But the truth is, I prefer savoury nibbles to sweets. I like the salty and the herby and the spicy much more than I like the sugary.
If you present me with a choice between a slice of cake or a wedge of cheese, I'm gonna grab that cheese. If you tempt me with a bowl of olives and a bowl of sweets, those olives are gonna go down a treat. If you have me over for a cup of tea and spread a table with cupcakes and mini quiches, guess which ones I'm having? The mini quiche, yep, you guessed it. I go for savoury rather than sweet, I'm tart like that! (see what I did there? No? Yeah? Oh well, nevermind, then.)
And because I go for savoury rather than sweet, I love seasonings. I mean I reaaaaaally love seasonings. I'm always searching for new flavours, new combos, new herbs and spices. Though my favourite ever seasoning is the humble rosemary (we even have a traditional song about it, here in Portugal, so I'm guessing it's no wonder how much I love it!!), I do love the variety in my spice cupboard and the fact that I can just go and mix up whatever I want, to create new depths of taste, of scent. Especially on my roasts, I love coming up with new mixes.
So one of the things I like to gift friends and family is a batch of my very own mixed herbs and spices. I did some last year that were a huge success - and recipe will be coming soon! - both sweet and savoury, and this year I wanted to take it even further, so I started planning my mixes ahead, testing several combos, going for different combinations, to come up with two that are really rather good, and really rather versatile. One is for fish, the other for meat. I always start with a salt base, I call these my seasoning salts, and because it has a salt base, the various flavours do not become overpowering when you're seasoning your food: you cannot go heavy handed on the salt!
So this is my fish mix. The ingredients you need are:
The meat mix is quite good for roasts, and it will go well with lamb, pork, chicken and turkey. It can also be used to add some depth to a stew or to season steaks or chops. You'll need:
If you present me with a choice between a slice of cake or a wedge of cheese, I'm gonna grab that cheese. If you tempt me with a bowl of olives and a bowl of sweets, those olives are gonna go down a treat. If you have me over for a cup of tea and spread a table with cupcakes and mini quiches, guess which ones I'm having? The mini quiche, yep, you guessed it. I go for savoury rather than sweet, I'm tart like that! (see what I did there? No? Yeah? Oh well, nevermind, then.)
And because I go for savoury rather than sweet, I love seasonings. I mean I reaaaaaally love seasonings. I'm always searching for new flavours, new combos, new herbs and spices. Though my favourite ever seasoning is the humble rosemary (we even have a traditional song about it, here in Portugal, so I'm guessing it's no wonder how much I love it!!), I do love the variety in my spice cupboard and the fact that I can just go and mix up whatever I want, to create new depths of taste, of scent. Especially on my roasts, I love coming up with new mixes.
So one of the things I like to gift friends and family is a batch of my very own mixed herbs and spices. I did some last year that were a huge success - and recipe will be coming soon! - both sweet and savoury, and this year I wanted to take it even further, so I started planning my mixes ahead, testing several combos, going for different combinations, to come up with two that are really rather good, and really rather versatile. One is for fish, the other for meat. I always start with a salt base, I call these my seasoning salts, and because it has a salt base, the various flavours do not become overpowering when you're seasoning your food: you cannot go heavy handed on the salt!
So this is my fish mix. The ingredients you need are:
- sea salt
- lemon zest
- pepper mix - rose, green, black, allspice - ground
- dill
The meat mix is quite good for roasts, and it will go well with lamb, pork, chicken and turkey. It can also be used to add some depth to a stew or to season steaks or chops. You'll need:
- sea salt
- rosemary
- dried chilli flakes
- thyme
- oregano
- sage
- fenugreek
- smoked paprika
adoráveis estes frasquinhos e as fotos ficaram encantadoras, pure charm, babe!
ReplyDeleteconfesso q estas foram tiradas um bocado ás pressas e ás três pancadas, já estava a escurecer e tudo!! Mas n correu mal, felizmente
DeleteThank you Irene!
ReplyDeleteaaah que ideia GIRA!!!! Sua Jamia Oliveraaa :) devias fazer p bolos tb!!!!!! Mesmoooo, tipo um mix d canela, gengibre... HUM HUM
ReplyDeletePá, mulher! Acreditas que tal nem sequer me tinha passado pela cabeça, e no entanto é uma filha da mãe de uma excelente ideia??? Natal de 2016 já em preeeeeendaaaas!!! Merci!!
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